


i love him and our goat children

by talkplaylove, wearing_tearing



Series: men with no plans [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amputee Bucky Barnes, Bearded Steve Rogers, Crack Treated Seriously, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Fluff and Humor, Goats, Happy Steve Bingo, M/M, Moving In Together, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Black Panther (2018), Retired Steve Rogers, Wakanda (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 20:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkplaylove/pseuds/talkplaylove, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearing_tearing/pseuds/wearing_tearing
Summary: “Bucky, why does Sam have a photo of you surrounded by goats and the words “Always be happy with Jesus” on it?” Steve asks, looking at him on the screen.Or the one where Steve and Bucky move in together, adopt some goat kids, and live happily ever after.





	i love him and our goat children

**Author's Note:**

> Another one for our Happy Steve Bingo card! Prompt 4/5: Found Family. 
> 
> This takes place after [love is blind (steve and bucky are just dumb)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16707829) but you don't need to read that to understand this.
> 
> This was also supposed to be 500 words ¯\\_(ツ)_/ ¯

“What the holy hell is this?”

“They’re goats,” Okoye says flatly. The look in her eyes shows exactly how unimpressed she is at Bucky’s apparent idiocy, which: unfair.

“I know they’re goats,” Bucky grumbles, even though he has to admit this is the first time he’s ever seen them in real life. There are five of them, padding around the grass, letting out the occasional bleat, and chewing on the grass. They look kind of cute, in a dumb and smelly sort of way. “Why are they here in my yard?”

“They’re a gift,” Okoye answers, lips twitching up in a small and secretive smile like she knows something Bucky doesn’t.

“From...?”

“Me.” Okoye flicks a glance at the goats and then back at Bucky. “I thought they’d… suit you.”

Bucky blinks at her. “I’m going to pretend that makes any kind of sense.”

Okoye nods like she’s expected nothing less. “They’re yours to name and keep.”

“Thanks,” Bucky says, feeling oddly touched. He takes a step closer to the goats, feeling only slightly nervous when one of them trots over to him and bumps against his leg. “Hi, buddy.”

The goat stares at Bucky through its beady eyes and then lets out a loud bleat. Bucky grins.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Bucky says, and then turns to the other two goats that are approaching. “And you. And also you. I’m Bucky.”

The goats are all surrounding him now and Bucky can’t help but laugh at the sight he must make. When he stares back at Okoye, he finds her with her arm raised, fingers deftly rolling the bracelet on her list, her lips pressed together almost like she’s holding back laughter.

“What?” Bucky asks, tucking in a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

“Nothing at all.” Okoye says, adjusting the beads on her bracelet so a holographic screen pops up. “Now stay still so I can take a picture.”

“Why do you want—” Bucky starts to ask, but Okoye is already done before he can finish his sentence.

“Thank you, Jesus.” Okoye flashes him a smile. “Bye, now. Have fun with your goats!”

 

**

 

Bucky only gets the Jesus reference much later.

“Buck?” Steve asks, a confused frown on his brow. He’s looking at something off-camera, and Bucky can hear Sam laughing loudly in the background.

“Yep?” Bucky asks, waiting patiently for Steve. It’s a Skype night, and Bucky’s in bed with his laptop cradled on his lap. His blanket is bunched up around his shoulders, like a cape, to ward off the cold.

“Why does Sam have a photo of you surrounded by goats and the words “ _Always be happy with Jesus_ ” on it?” Steve asks, looking at him on the screen. His beard’s neatly trimmed and his hair is slicked back nicely.

“What.” Bucky asks. Steve was off crime-fighting yesterday; maybe he got hit on the head again.

That’s when Bucky’s phone beeps. He reaches over for his phone, jiggling the laptop in his lap.

Nope, Steve was right. Bucky’s phone loads to show a photo of him in the red robe the royal siblings had given him, with his shoulder in a blue sling.  His hair is loose, curling softly around his face. He’s out on the field, goats all around him, while the sun shines behind his back, giving him a halo-like glow. The words, “ _Always be happy with Jesus._ ” were in loud yellow word art at the bottom of the photo.

Bucky groans. “ _Okoye_.”

Steve’s ringing laughter comes through the screen. Steve’s on the other side of the world (maybe) and he’s laughing at him, that punk. “You do look a little… God-like.”

Bucky shoots Steve the finger, even as his insides do that funny twisty-feeling whenever Steve’s genuinely happy, eyes alight in joy and crinkling at the corners.

“You shut up or I’ll smite you,” Bucky grumbles, yet he can’t help but smile back.

Steve waggles his eyebrows at him. “Promises, promises.”

“When are you visiting again?” Bucky asks as he tucks a strand of hair behind his ear. He misses Steve, with his dumb smile and soft beard and big warm gentle hands that cup Bucky’s face in his hands before he kisses him.

“Soon,” Steve promises, “Just gotta finish kicking ass.”

“Will that ever end, though?” Bucky asks in a murmur, more to himself than to Steve.

The smile slips off Steve’s face for a second before his expression turns into something tired and determined, with the lines around his eyes and mouth deepening. “Yes, it will. Then you’ll get sick me.”

“It’s been 90 years, Rogers,” Bucky drawls, heart tugging in his chest. “I ain’t gotten sick o’ you yet. Never have, never will.”

“Promises, promises,” Steve says again, but this time in a softer tone with love and fondness shining through his eyes.

 

**

 

Steve tries not to vibrate out of his seat of the quinjet as they break through the protection fields that surround Wakanda. His breath catches in his lungs like it always does when he’s met with the beautiful view of the country expanding before his eyes, all tones of green and brown and orange and blue, bringing him one step closer to Bucky.

Bucky, his boyfriend, who has no idea he’s coming to visit.

“Welcome, Captain,” Okoye greets him with a small smile and a glint in her eyes.

“Thanks for helping me with this,” Steve answers, following her with eager steps as she takes him to one of their land hovers that will get him to Bucky in no time.

“Our King has a weak spot when it comes to long distance lovers,” Okoye comments. “So you should stop being distant, accept T’Challa’s invitation, and move here.”

Steve bites on the inside of his cheek. That’s a secret he’s not willing to share with anyone just yet. Not before he talks to Bucky. “I’ll take that into consideration,” is all he says as he gets inside the land hover, which earns him an eye roll from Okoye.

“Go. Reunite with your Bucky. And tell him that if he needs more hay for the goats, to W’Kabi.”

“I— wait, goats?” Steve tries to ask, but Okoye is already snapping the door shut and sending him on his way.

It’s about a ten minute journey to Bucky’s home, which Steve spends frowning down at the “ _Always be with Jesus_ ” picture on his phone.

 

**

 

The fields outside Bucky’s home, once peaceful and serene, are now littered with goats. Bucky is crouching near one. The goat’s fur is white and it has dark markings near the eyes.

“What.” Steve says, blinking at the sight in front of him. The sun shines on Bucky’s hair, making it look extra soft and shiny. Bucky is grinning at the goat, hand extended as he feeds it hay. Steve’s heart twists in his chest, an overwhelming feeling of love overtaking him, watching how Bucky still has so much care to give, even after everything he’s been through. He swallows the mess of feelings down and walks over to surprise his boyfriend.

“What’s all this?” He calls out, footfalls soft on the grass.

Bucky whips around, his eyes wide. The goat bleats at having his dinner interrupted. Bucky’s expression morphs from surprise to happiness, his eyes glimmering with warmth, a huge smile tugging at his lips. Steve probably has the same stupid look on his face.

“You punk!” Bucky says, laughing, once Steve’s within reach. He looks so good; happy and healthy and everything Steve could ever want. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“Not coming yet,” Steve says with a straight face, as his arms wrap around Bucky’s waist.

Bucky gasps and covers Steve’s mouth, laughing. “Dirty! Not in front of the kids!”

“What?” Steve asks, brow furrowing. What kids? He knows there isn't anyone else around; he would have seen them from his walk towards the field. He knows the fields only have Bucky and the goats. He licks Bucky’s palm playfully, fingers squeezing Bucky's waist.

Bucky makes a face at him and wipes his palm down the front of Steve’s dark henley. Steve uses the distraction to plant a kiss on Bucky’s cheek, once, twice, before Bucky meets him halfway, grinning and _hello_.

He can taste the smile on Bucky’s lips.

Steve thinks he can lose himself here, under the sun and in Bucky’s arms, he can spend forever—or the rest of his mortal life here, and it’ll be enough, mouths moving against each other in a dance as old as time, when the incessant bleating of a goat fills his ears.

Bucky breaks away from him, eyes slightly glazed. “Hi, love.” He kisses Steve one more time, before turning to the goats.

“Come meet our kids, Stevie,” Bucky says, grabbing Steve’s hand and dragging him towards the goats. Steve blinks, still struck dumb by Bucky’s kisses, blindly following where Bucky leads him to.

“Our kids?” Steve asks. They don’t have any kids. Steve would sure as fuck remember if he and Bucky somehow ended up with a child, let alone two.

He’s still trying to figure out _what the fuck_ when they stop in front the small white goat with dark markings over its eyes, and then Bucky is talking, “This is Grant. He’s small, but he always fights with the others.”

“Uh, okay,” Steve says. Between the time he left Wakanda last and now, it seems that Bucky has amassed a handful goats and he named each one.

And he thought the picture T’Challa sent him was just a random photo.

“This is Cap. She’s a good leader but sometimes she likes to run at the fence.” Bucky continues, gesturing with their clasped hands towards a black goat with a white patch on its middle. She has a little dent on her left horn. Cap bleats at them, tossing her head to the side.

“Oh, Jesus,” Steve groans, always a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to Bucky and their relationship. “Are the goats our kids?”

“Don’t call me Jesus,” Bucky mutters. “And yes, they are.”

Bucky glares at him as if daring him to deny their children. Steve wouldn’t dare.

“This is Rogers. He’s a real dumbass.” Bucky continues and points to another one of their kids, a brown goat with white circular markings around its eyes, and long horns.

“Oh my god,” Steve says, laughing. “Fuck you, Bucky.”

“Language, Steve.” Bucky says, looking sternly at him over his shoulder. Then he winks, mouth tugging up into a smile. “Later.”

Steve squeezes his hand. Bucky’s smile shouldn’t make his heart beat so fast—it’s been ninety _years_ _—_ but here they are. “I don’t remember agreeing to adopt a herd of goat kids.”

“That’s fine.” Bucky says, like  he asked Steve at all. “They’re still ours and we love them.”

“What are everyone else’s names?” Steve asks with a sigh. He might as well just go along with this. With the way Bucky keeps smiling at the goats whenever he sees them, Steve’s ready to adopt all of them and more.

"This is Samuel. He hates being bathed, so he stinks." Samuel is a bigger goat with black and white fur.

Steve starts laughing again, hand to his chest. The goat _does_ stink, it’s stench wafting over to them. “Oh my god. Sam’s gonna kill you.”

Bucky grins. “Let him try. Our kids will protecc.”  

Steve shakes his head, dropping a kiss to Bucky’s shoulder as they walk over to the last goat, nearest Bucky’s house, with their hands entwined.

The last goat is pure white. “This is Becks. She’s our favorite.”

“She’s beautiful,” Steve says, heart clenching a little in his chest at the obvious honor to Becca.

“All of our kids are beautiful,” Bucky corrects him, and then side-eyes the donkey that’s busying himself with some chewing some grass a little ways away from the herd. “Except him. He’s a new addition.”

“What’s his name?” Steve asks, somewhat dreading the question.

“Tony,” Bucky says right away, perfectly deadpan, “because he’s an ass.”

Steve manages to keep a straight face for approximately half a second before he bursts out laughing, loud and bright and so strong he has to clutch at Bucky’s shoulder to keep himself standing. Bucky looks smug as fuck as he watches Steve almost piss himself, although his smile softens a little when Becks comes to bump against the side of his leg.

“Aw, Buck,” Steve wheezes a little, trying to catch his breath.

“I’m hilarious, I know.” Bucky grins at him, and then snakes an arm around Steve’s waist when Steve leans heavily against his side. “Do you mind?” he asks in a low voice. “I know they were a joke gift from Okoye, but I’m kind of attached. They’re all mine now.”

Steve smiles at him and nuzzles at Bucky’s cheek with his nose before pressing a kiss to his temple. “Ours. They’re ours.”

Bucky’s grin is blinding. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Steve can’t resist: he leans in and captures Bucky’s mouth in another languid kiss until they’re both breathless. “I’ve always wanted to be a goat dad.”

Bucky snorts and then turns the sound into a giggle, which he tries to hide against the side of Steve’s neck. “Glad I could make your dreams come true. It just sucks you won’t get to see them often.”

“About that…”

Bucky lifts his head up, brows already furrowed in confusion. “What? What is it?”

“I’m done,” Steve says, the words heavy and bitter on his tongue. “I’m done fighting. This last mission with Sam and Nat was just tying up loose ends.”

The words fall into the space between them, heavy with their weight.

“Steve?” Bucky whispers, eyes wide as if afraid to believe Steve really means this.

“I’m done being Captain America,” Steve says the words aloud for the first time, and it’s amazing the way it feels like the weight of the world is lifting off his shoulders. “I’ve offered to give Sam the shield if he wants it, but I’ve done my time.”

Bucky swallows and raises a shaking hand up to Steve’s face, fingers carding through his beard. “You’re still a fugitive.”

Steve grins at him and shrugs. “T’Challa’s been kind enough to allow me to stay here while he and Nat get the government and Tony’s head on straight. It doesn’t look good for them to prosecute the guy who fought against Nazis his entire life, pretty much helped end World War II, gave his life for his country, and uncovered and took down a government-wide corruption conspiracy to murder half the population so a Nazi-leaning terrorist organization could rule the world.”

Bucky blinks at him twice, looking surprised at his sudden outburst, and then nods. “You _almost_ sound impressive when you say all that.”

Steve laughs and bumps their foreheads together. “I’m done, Buck. I’m retiring. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life out there fighting. I want to be here with you.”

“And our kids,” Bucky says. There’s a small smile tugging on his lips but his voice cracks a little.

“As many of them as you want,” Steve promises. Hell, he’ll own an entire zoo if that’s what makes Bucky happy.

Bucky closes his eyes and presses his lips to Steve in a soft and quick kiss. His voice, when he speaks, hits Steve’s gut with its sweetness and truth, “I love you, y’know?”

“I love you too,” Steve says like it’s the only truth he knows, which, after all they’ve been through, might as well be.

Bucky kisses him again, this time deeper and like they have all the time in the world, and Steve is helpless but to kiss back.

Around them, the goats bleat.

 

**

 

So, goats.

It turns out, goats can jump high. They can jump over fences. Bucky figures this out one day when he sees not five goats in his yard, but six. Bucky doesn’t know where the sixth goat came from, but there it was one day, looking at peace with the rest of his kids that he didn’t have the heart in him to turn it away.

(He does ask Wakabi about it though; he doesn’t want to add ‘goat thief’ to his resume).

Anyway. That’s how they got Clint. Clint has a beautiful brown coat and circular marks resembling a target around his left eye.

Clint is also why Steve is currently out in the sun, shirtless. Sweat rolls down Steve’s back as he chops wood, the muscles on his arms flexing every time he swings the axe to break the logs in front of him. They’re building a new goat-proof fence around Bucky’s place. _Their_ place.

The thought of living with Steve—even if it’s been weeks since Steve’s officially moved in—still makes Bucky a little weak in the knees.

Bucky watches from his perch on his front stoop, chin resting on the palm of his hand. He rakes his eyes over the curves of Steve’s back, his tapered waist, and his beautiful, _beautiful_ ass clad in a pair of worn-out jeans that hugs all his curves perfectly.

“I could use a little help here, you know.” Steve says wryly, shooting Bucky a grin over his shoulder. A bead of sweat rolls down his temple, trickles down to his neck and settles on the junction of his neck and collarbone.    

“You’re asking for help now, right when you’re doing a perfectly good job yourself?” Bucky says, licking his lips, eyes on Steve’s neck. He bites his bottom lip and finally looks at Steve’s eyes, to find those intense blue eyes zeroing in on his lips.

Bucky feels a warmth blooming in his gut, his heart racing in his chest. He wants to go over to Steve, lick the sweat from his pecs, and then climb him like a tree. Steve looks like he’s welcome to the idea, axe already dropped to the ground.

The afternoon sun beats down on them.

A goat bleats nearby, jumping over a red wagon in their yard.  It’s Samuel, eyeing them distastefully while he moves towards the hay.

Bucky shakes his head, clears his throat instead and says, “Steve. Fence. Kids.”

Steve grunts. He takes a log, looks straight at Bucky, and rips the wood apart with his bare hands.

“Fuck,” Bucky groans.

 

**

 

The cat shows up three days later.

Bucky stops in his tracks and almost drops the brush he’s holding, and all thoughts of giving their kids a good brushing are totally gone from his head. He grunts when Steve bumps into him after his abrupt stop, and doesn’t hesitate to elbow him lightly in the gut.

“What is it?” Steve asks as his hands come to rest on the curve of Bucky’s hips.

Bucky silently points the brush at Clint. The goat, as if sensing their attention, bleats at them  completely at peace, while a black cat with white spots on its paws loafs out on top of him.

“What,” Steve says flaty.

Bucky has to agree. He briefly wonders if this is what his life is like now: waking up to find more animals he didn’t adopt just chilling in his yard. He doesn’t think he minds. Especially when the cat blinks at them once, stands up and flicks its tail, and then jumps down again, its face away from theirs.

Bucky grins despite himself, eyes filling with amusement. “I think we found Natasha.”

“Another kid?” Steve asks, rubbing his bearded cheek against Bucky’s own.

“Nah.” Bucky leans into him, still smiling. “She belongs to herself.”

 

**

 

It’s a good life, the one they share in Wakanda.

It’s beyond anything Steve ever thought of having for himself, and his heart always beats a little faster whenever he wakes up to Bucky’s face, his smile, his kisses. Steve wouldn’t trade it for the world.

He does kind of miss his team, though, which is why he can barely contain his excitement when Sam and Natasha drop him a call.

“Stop smiling like that.” Sam narrows his eyes at him, trying to hide behind Natasha’s shoulder. “It creeps me out.”

Steve makes kissy faces at the screen. “You love me.”

“Should I be worried you’re gonna leave me and the kids to run off with Wilson?” Bucky asks as he comes into the living room. He’s holding Becks under his arm like she’s a tiny lap dog and not a goat, and Steve almost expires from how cute they looks.

“What is that?” Sam asks, eyebrows arched up. “And kids? What kids? When did you get them? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never seen a goat, Wilson?” Bucky tsks, and grins when Sam flips him off.

“You’ll meet the kids when you get here.” Steve grins, waiting until Bucky stops by his side to give Becks a scratch under his chin and Bucky a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re coming to visit?” Bucky asks with a smile.

“It’s been a while,” Natasha answers. “I miss making fun of Steve in person.”

Bucky nods like he understands exactly what she means.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you two,” Steve tells them. He misses his friends, even if they’re kind of awful sometimes.

“Three,” Natasha corrects him. “Clint’s coming too.”

“After we rescue him from whatever mess he got himself into this time,” Sam grumbles.

Natasha pets him on the head. “We all have our dumb blondes to take care of.”

“Amen,” Bucky murmurs.

Sam shakes his head. “I bet Thor wouldn’t treat me like this.”

Steve snorts. He knows for a fact Thor would be worse.

“I’ll see you guys then,” Steve says, ready to end the call. Becks is already trying to chew the ends of his hair, which means the other kids are probably wanting some food too. “I’m excited for you to meet the kids.”

“What kids?” Sam asks again, but Natasha is already waving them goodbye. “Steve, really. What kids? What is—”

The screen cuts off on Sam’s distressed face and Natasha’s sly smile, leaving Steve and Bucky alone again.

“I can’t wait to introduce Sam to Samuel,” Bucky says with a dreamy sigh.

Steve snickers. He can’t wait either.

 

**

 

The goats are running wild and free in the yard. Grant is ramming his horns at the tall fence Steve’s built, making huffing noises. Clint’s got his front leg in a splint from an earlier attempt at jumping over the fence.

“You have a farm,” a delighted voice says. Bucky looks up from where he’s moving hay bales from one side of the enclosure. It's easy work, even with only one arm, probably because of the serum.

Clint—the human—is walking into their yard, his left eye purpling with a bruise. He lifts his hand up in greeting—two fingers on a splint—and waves at Bucky, grinning. “Hiya.”

“Looking good, Barton,” Bucky says, tossing the hay bale down. “You alright?”

“Always am,” Clint says. He looks around, almost visibly vibrating in excitement. “What you got here?”

Bucky grins and extends his arm, encompassing the yard. “Welcome to our home. Let me introduce you to my kids.”

Bucky takes Clint to see each of his kids, and Clint bends down so he's eye level with each one of them. He greets each one with, “I'm uncle Clint. Nice to meet you.”

They're just goats, but Bucky's heart warms with happiness as he watches Clint with his kids. In some way, Clint is acknowledging the life he and Steve's are building together, here in Wakanda with their goat children.

 

**

 

Steve, Nat, and Sam are making their way through the path towards Steve and Bucky's home, the wind blowing a gentle breeze through the air. A goat runs up to them and trots by Steve's side.

“Oh my god, what is that smell?” Sam asks as they reach Bucky and Clint, his nose wrinkling.

“And that's Samuel,” Bucky says, motioning to the goat next to Steve. Samuel stops walking and beats proudly, tossing his head.

Clint squats, hands resting on his knees. He looks at the goat in the eye. “Nice to meet you, Samuel. I'm uncle Clint.”

Sam and Nat watch Clint, one with eyes widening in horror, the other with soft eyes and a small smile on her lips.

“What,” Sam says, looking up at Bucky. The corner of his eyelid might be twitching. Next to him, Steve is laughing, one hand to his chest.

“You named a goat after me? You named a stinky goat after me?”

“They were already named when I got here,” Steve says, flashing a blinding grin at Sam. “Don't worry. That just means Bucky likes you.”

“Lies,” Bucky says, poking Steve in the chest.

Steve grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Ugh, Bucky hates that Steve knows him so well, knows even the things Bucky doesn't say.

(Bucky loves it.)

“Ugh. Gross,” Sam says.

“Which one is named after me?” Natasha asks, shoulders relaxed, hands in her pockets. The pose is deceptively safe, but Bucky's not one to be fooled.

“I’m not stupid. I named the cat after you.”

Bucky points up at a tree, where the cat is dozing, shaded from the afternoon sun.

Natasha the Human grins. She walks closer and wraps Bucky in a hug, the smell of her shampoo filling the air. Bucky squeezes her waist with his arm. “How're you doing, Natasha?”

“Same old,” she says, releasing him. “Getting boys out of trouble.”

“You do have quite a handful,” Steve says solemnly. He steps into place by Bucky's side, wrapping an arm around Bucky's waist.

“So do I,” Bucky says, lifting his hand and patting Steve's cheek. Steve's beard tickles his palm. Steve makes a mock outraged noise and shifts his head, lips kissing Bucky’s palm.

“Samuel, stop trying to eat your poop,” Clint says in a grave tone. He's lying down next to Clint the Goat and Cap, petting their heads. A few feet away from them, Samuel is, well, trying to eat his poop.

“I hate this and I hate you and I specifically hate that goat,” Sam grumbles.

“That's Captain America's kid you're hating on,” Bucky says. Steve smiles into Bucky's shoulder, breathing in his scent, hand squeezing Bucky's waist once.

Steve loves hearing Bucky talk about their kids. Even if Steve doesn't say anything, Bucky _knows_ it in the way he smiles and moves. Steve’s not the only one fluent in Bucky; Bucky can read Steve just as well too.

Rogers runs by, bleating.

Sam lets out a long-suffering breath past his lips and nods. “Your kids. Of course this is your life now.”

“Yup.” Steve grins, letting the happiness shine through his expression. “I love him and our goat children.”

Sam shakes his head and smiles back at him, and then claps a hand on his shoulder. “It’s good to see you happy. Even if it means Barnes is involved.”

“I’m a beacon of light in your life,” Bucky tells Sam, blowing him a kiss.

“Like the car headlights right before I get run over,” Sam agrees, and then laughs when Bucky glares at him.

“I like cat Natasha,” Natasha says, scratching said cat under her chin while they both sit down next to Clint and the goats.

“At least someone is happy to have one of our kids named after them,” Bucky says pointedly at Sam.

Sam rolls his eyes and grumbles under his breath, and Steve has to bite down on his lip not to burst out laughing. There’s a warm glow of joy pulsing inside his chest to see them all here, his Bucky and his friends, together in one place. Safe and whole.

“C’mon,” Steve throws an arm around Sam’s shoulder while still holding on to Bucky’s waist on the other side, “let me introduce you to Tony, the ass.”

Sam’s eyes light up.

And by Steve’s side, Bucky throws his head back and laughs.

 

**

 

Bucky makes Steve drag half of their table cloths to the yard while he and Sam get the food ready and Natasha and Clint play with their animal counterparts. It’s nearing the end of the afternoon, but the sun still shines over the green grass and the hay all over his backyard, and the gentle breeze of Wakanda summers caresses their skins.

“Thanks for having us, man,” Sam says quietly as he helps Bucky with the assortment of sandwiches and sliced fruit they’re having for dinner.

Bucky shrugs one shoulder and bumps Sam with his elbow. As much as they love to poke fun at one another, Bucky can’t deny he’s happy to have them all here. “You’ll always be welcome here,” he says quietly, not looking at Sam. “All of you. If you need it.”

Sam doesn’t say anything, but he bumps Bucky back with his own elbow.

“Is the food ready?” Steve asks as he pops his head into their kitchen, long hair wind blown and cheeks flushed red with the heat. “I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry,” Bucky and Sam say in unison and then scowl at each other.

Steve snickers and ducks his head when Bucky throws a napkin at him. “C’mon, I got all the cloths down. We gotta hurry before Clint tries to eat them.”

“Goat Clint?” Sam frowns.

“Human Clint,” Steve corrects him. “He’s starving.”

Bucky snorts. “Come and help bring the food out, then. Three hands are better than one.”

“That's what she said,” Clint the Human says, popping up suddenly over Steve's shoulder. He makes grabby hands at the container of sandwiches that Bucky is holding.

“No inappropriate jokes in front of the kids,” Steve says as they make their way out of the house.

Clint tries to give him a salute with his hands full of tupperware. The stack wobbles once, but miraculously nothing drops.

Sam looks at Steve with judgement in his eyes, an unspoken _I can't believe you're still pulling this shit_ , a stack of paper plates between his hands. Steve shrugs, biting down a shit-eating grin.

Bucky scans the yard and sees that T'Challa, Shuri, Nakia, and Okoye had arrived completing their picnic spread with containers of salad, drinks, and cookies. T'Challa and Nakia stand near Cap and Grant, under the shade of a tree, heads bent together and holding hands.

Okoye and Shuri are talking to Nat on the picnic mat. Okoye is showing Nat something on her holo-phone, wrist raised as her bracelet flashes an image. As one, their eyes flick up to Bucky, all of them grinning.

Bucky knocks his elbow into Steve's side, all the while keeping the stacked containers of sliced fruit in his hand perfectly balanced, his eyes narrowing. “They're planning something.”

Steve cranes his neck over the containers of sandwiches in his hands. He huffs out a laugh when he sees what Bucky is looking at.

“Should I protect you from being a meme?” Steve asks, leaning over to kiss Bucky’s cheek, his stubble tickling Bucky's skin.

“He's already a meme,” Sam points out helpfully as they settle the food and themselves on the blankets.

“I prayed to you once,” Clint says gravelly. He's already sprawled stomach down on the blanket next to Nat, opening containers with one arm draped over Natasha’s knee as leverage. “It worked; got saved by a spider and a bird the next day.”

“#Blessedt,” Shuri says, flicking a cheeky grin at Bucky. Bucky rolls his eyes and gives her a brief hug in greeting while Steve talks to T'Challa.

“There is a whole gallery of you looking like Jesus, Barnes,” Sam says in delight, his eyes alight as he looks through Okoye's image gallery, flicking through the holographic images. Behind him, Becks bleats and tries to steal the greens off his paper plate. “I don't even care that you named a stinky goat after me anymore.”

Bucky rolls his eyes as everyone chatters around them. Sam and Okoye are still engrossed in her bracelet, while Nakia and T'Challa are talking to Clint and Nat about Clint's latest mission. The goats are grazing (with the exception of Grant, who’s trying to run in circles around Shuri) around them, while Nat the Cat has found a place in Nakia's lap.

Bucky looks around, his heart expanding in his chest with warmth. He'd lost two families years ago—his own and the Howling Commandos. After everything he had done, he didn't think he'd have a shot at anything like this again. Next to him, Steve catches his eye and gives him a soft, beautiful smile.

Steve's hand reaches for his, tangling their fingers together. “You happy, Buck?”

His voice is low and quiet, something Bucky knows the others can't hear. A private moment between the two of them, surrounded by the people they love.

The sun sets behind them, bathing them in a golden light.

“Yep,” Bucky says, leaning in to Steve. Because, well, here he is, surrounded by friends, his goat kids, and the love of his life.

His family.

“Good,” Steve says. He leans over and catches Bucky's lips in a soft, sweet kiss.

They're finally, finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> You can always find us on Tumblr: [talkplaylove](http://talkplaylove.tumblr.com) and [hawkguyz](http://hawkguyz.tumblr.com)!


End file.
